Suction cleaner



May 5, 1942. D. G. SMELLIE 2,281,863

/ suc'rIoN CLEANR Filed July 1o, v1939 INVENTOR omuw a.. @meme BY:fwd/sys@ ATTORN EY APeltcntefl MBV 51 'l-UNITED STATES PATENT icaSUCTION CLEANER mmm a. saisine.' canton, omo, assigner to The HooverCompany, North Canton, Ohio," a

corporation of Ohio Application July 10, 1939, Serial N0. 283,517

of use, it becomes necessary that they be ad- )usted radially in orderthat they continue to operate satisfactorily. The present invention isdirected to a construction -by which the agitating elements subject towear can be adjusted radially in a simple lmanner and by a constructionwhichv cannot be clogged by the foreign material with vide a new andimproved suction cleaner. It is another object of the invention toprovide a new and improved suction cleaner rotary agitator. A

vfurther object of the invention is to provide new and improvedagitating element adjusting means in a rotary agitator for a suctioncleaner. A-

further object of the inventionv is to provide means to adjust the brushelement radially in a rotary agitator for a suction cleaner which meansare so constructed and arranged as to prevent which the agitator isalways' in contact in operation.

Referring again to the drawing, and to Figure 1 in particular, a modernsuction cleaner is shown and is seen to comprise a nozzle i which isinteriorly connected through a passageway 2 clogging with foreignmaterial, etc. Still another object of the invention is to provide arotary agitaior in which the brush element is radially adjustable bymanually operable meanswhich are so related that it is not necessary toreverse the brush end for end. These and other more specific objectswill appear upon reading the following specification and claims and uponcon- 4 `sidering in connection therewith the attached drawing to whichthey relate.

Referring now tothe drawing in which a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention is illustrated, and in' which the same referencecharacter'refers to the same parts throughout:

Figure 1 is a front view of a suction cleaner embodying the presentinvention with the nozzle broken away and shown in section to illustratethe suction cleaner agitator embodying the present invention positionedtherein;

`Figure 2 is `a partial longitudinal section through the agitator; y

' Figure 3 is a partial side elevation of the rotary agitatorconstructed in accordance with the present invention with certain partsof the cylindrical casing broken away and the adjustable brush elementillustrated in its outer radial position;

Figure t is a section through the brush securing means of the agitatorupon the line l-l of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a section upon the line 5 5 of Figure 2.

In the modern suction cleaner rigid beating elements and flexible brushelements are provided which cooperate in beating and brushing thesurface covering undergoing cleaning. The brush elements are made offlexible bristles which a second downwardly facing shoulder 24. theopposite or outer end of each brush seat the to a fan chamber 3 whichhouses a suctioncreating fan I. The fan 4 is carried by the de pendingmotor shaft i which extends downwardly from an unshown motor positionedwithin the motor casing 6 immediately above the fan chamber. Within thecleaner nozzle I is positioned an agitator, indicated generally by thereference character Il, which is rotatably supported by a throughsupporting shaft il and which is seen to comprise a cylindrical body i2upon the surface of which are helically extending rigid beater bars i3.Body I2 is provided with axially extending brush seats Il within each ofwhich is adjustably positioned a brush element indicated 4generally byI5. Agitator ill is driven from the depending motor shaft i by apower-transmit- 'ting belt IB and in the operation of the machine isadapted to contact a surface covering undergoing cleaning below thenozzle. The-cleaner is movably supported by wheels 'I l and there isprovided, as in the usual suction cleaner, a handle I8 by which theoperator may exert the propelling force, the incoming current leadsbeing carried by the handle and extending down into themotor casing 8.

The cylindrical hollow body i2 of the' agitator il has each of its endsclosed by an end plate 2li which centrally seats a ball bearing 2lheldin place by a thread guard 21 screwed upon the end of the shaft il.'I'he shaft Il itself seats the inner race of the ball bearing 2|.

The flexible agitating element or brush i5 of the agitator is adjustablypositioned within the open bottom seat il which is seen to comprise sidewalls I1 and axially spaced end walls 22.

The inner end wall 22, that adjacent the pulley,

is seen to be formed with a `downwardly facing shoulder 23 and to bespaced under the extension of thezbody I2 thereabove which in effectforms At are subject to wear and after a certain period end wall 22isformed with a lower upwardly facing shoulder 2t and an upper 'upwardlyfacing shoulder Z5. yCarried by the body I2 and extended under theinwardly facing shoulders 23 and 24 is an elongated leaf spring 28 whichis adapted to underlie the brush back to force it upwardly into contactwith the shoulders -as will be explained. In the case of the outershoulders 25 and it, the lower shoulder 25 is provided with aninternally Athreaded bore 3@ which seats the threaded bolt 3i, theheaded end of which is adapted to clamp the end of the brush back inplace. The side walls il of the agitator brush seat iare parallel and attheir lower ends are provided with inturned shoulders 32 which 'areadapted to cooperate with the shoulders i5 and 23 in positioning thebrush element in its lowenradial position.

The removable brush element itself is seen to comprise a rigid metallicback t4, the ends of Y which are adapted to abut and underlie theshoulders 23 and 2i! at the inner end of the brush seat and' overlieshoulders db and 26 atthe outer end thereof. The longitudinallyextending sides of the back 3% also Contact the` seat shoulders 32 inthelower radial position. Extending the length of the back it is'a shaft 36upon which are pivotally mounted a series of adjacent brush tuft seats3l each of which carries a flexible defensas the back will be disengagedfrom the shoulder 23 and will be forced by spring 23 outwardly intocontact with the overlying shoulder 2t. The operator then tightens thesecuring bolt 3l and the brush element is again iixed in place.

Among the advantages of the brush adjustment of the present invention isthe fact that it is not necessary to remove the brush from the agitatorto accomplish the adjustment. The operator need only loosen the screwdi, move the brush element slightly axially, and tighten the screwagain. A further advantage of the conbrush tuft 3B. The body ,3Q is madein a V-shape which permits each of the tuft seats 3l a range of pivotalmovement about the supporting shaft The cleaner being in operation andthe'suc- -tion-creating fan il rotating, a iiow of cleaning air is'moved through the cleaner which effects the-lifting of a surfacecovering upwardly and into contact with the agitator it. The rotation ofthe agitator by the 4belt i6 results in the vibrating and brushing ofthecovering which dislodges the embedded foreign material therein.

With the agitator in its new condition the brush elements or tuftsextend substantially to the same'radial extension as the rigid beatingele- 1 ments I3. After the cleaner has been in use for a prolongedperiod, however, the ends of the brush tufts 38 of the brush ll'ivbecomeworn and decrease in length. It then becomes necessary for thevoperatorto adjust the brush manually. In

vits new brush position, as illustrated in Figure 2, `the rigid vback 34was positioned in the brush seat ilwithitsinner end seated under theover- ;lying'shoulder 23 against which it was held by "In -'the actionof the flat spring 23 in contact with the end thereof. The opposite endof the back was secured to the outwardly facing shoulder 25 .by theheaded screw 3i which passed therethrough in a slot 35. To adjust thebrushthe operator needs only to loosen the screw 3i enough to permit thebrush to be moved outwardly a sufiicient distance at its outer end thatthat end can pass out and over the outwardly facing shoulder 26, theslot 35 permitting this axial movement.

At such time the opposite end of struction is that there are no openingsat the ends of the agitator brush which can 'become lled with foreignmaterial to prevent the adjustment.

'I claim:

l. A rotary agitator for a suction cleaner comprising a body' formedwith an agitating element seat, a plurality of. abutments at theopposite ends of said seat, the abutments at each end of said seat beingspaced vertically therein and lengthwise `of said seat, an agitatingelement in -said seat adapted at its opposite ends to contact.

selectively said abutments at various heights therein upon being shiftedlengthwise of said seat and for' the purpose of. varying the height ofsaid element relative to said seat, means at one end of said seat tourge said element in all of its lengthwise positions outwardly againstthe abutments at that end, and means at the opposite end of'said seat tourge said element inwardly inail of its lengthwise positions against theabutments at that end.

2. A rotary agitator for a suction cleaner comprising a body formed withan agitating element seat, an agitating element including a rigid back:

' positioned therein, shiftable lengthwise therein,

and radially relative to the 'axis of rotation of said body, means toabut said element from above' at one end thereof in its variouslengthwise and radial positions and from below in its various lengthwiseand radial positions at the other end gated iiexible leaf spring carriedby said body upon the opposite side of said pulley and 'extended undersaid pulley surface into a position below said seat in which it isadapted to contact a brush positioned in said seat and exert anoutwardlygdirected force thereon.

DONALD G. SMELLIE.

